


Butterflies in his stomach

by Vicuz



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Nonsense, One Shot, Sex Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 13:33:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3852670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vicuz/pseuds/Vicuz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto took the present so carefully feeling already butterflies in his stomach. Just the idea that Haruka would go through all the trouble to get him something made him so happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterflies in his stomach

“So…” Makoto looked nervously at the stack of brochures on the table. “Have you decided already which one you’ll choose?”

“Hmm…” was the only sound he got out from Haruka.

Makoto sighed deeply and left his heavy backpack on a corner before sitting down in front of him.

He took one randomly and, just from the red crosses he could tell these were all Haru’s rejection choices to the Universities that had approached him to get him in their Swimming team.

“Kyoto, Tokyo, Iwatobi, Tokyo again, even Sapporo...? That’s surely is a cold place to consider!!”

“I chose this one,” said Haruka waving a booklet and opening them on the contact page. He was a little blushed, but Makoto couldn't decipher the reason. He took a pen and a paper and Makoto stared at his long and slender fingers. Haruka had hands that made him wished he was good at arts so he could draw them and keep them close to him forever.

“What a silly thing to say…” he thought to himself.

As soon as Haruka was about to write he left the pen on the table and seemed to be looking for something inside a duffel bag.

"Here," he said finally and handed him a small plastic bag. "I…" now he was crimson and Makoto was afraid something was wrong with Haruka. Nonetheless, he waited patiently for him to explain.

"IbroughtyouthisfromAustralia," he said it very fast and almost in a whisper that piqued Makoto’s curiosity. Makoto took the present so carefully feeling already butterflies in his stomach. Just the idea that Haruka would go through all the trouble to get him something made him so happy.

"What is it?" He asked although he was already looking inside.

"I didn't know what to get you and I remembered you liked dolphins, but Rin insisted that it didn't make sense not to bring you something typical from Australia and he suggested a koala. Still I wanted a dolphin and dolphins are common in Australia…"

Makoto was looking at a stuffed koala and a similar dolphin toy, both with a red plastic heart with the inscription of “Love from Australia” attached to them.

Makoto felt a hot rush all over his face and he knew he was red from his toes to the tip of his ears. .

"Thank you, Haru-chan. You know you didn't really need to…"

"But I wanted to."

"Still, Haru-chan."

"Drop the chan"

"Yeah… Thank you. I love them"

And it hit him.

It hit him as hard as a tsunami.

He knew for a fact that Haruka had not brought present for anyone but him. He clearly remembered Nagisa pestering him about that. And he didn’t stop asking for presents until Haru gave all of them a box with kangaroos shaped chocolates that they had to share.

The gentle butterflies in his stomach now were raging inside of his entire being. He was so afraid his heart was going to jump from out of his rib cage and was terrified Haru was able to hear how hard it was beating . He was focused staring at the stuffed toys, then took one to his nose, expecting it to smell of chlorine and fresh soap and realizing that that was silly. His smile grew a little further if that was even possible and he let his heart go crazy staring at the impersonal “Love from Australia”.

He was so happy.

"I’m glad you like them." Sighed Haruka and Makoto finally rose his eyes to meet Haruka’ who was smiling at him.

He was wrong. His cheeks were starting to hurt from all that smiling, but worse was his heart doing somersaults that surely would kill him.

He needed to change the subject. He looked out of the window of Haru’s house trying to calm himself down. It was a strange windy day that kept on making scary sounds in every nook of that big empty house. Makoto knew he would never be able to sleep in that house alone like Haru did. Sometimes he had the urge to take Haru away from that lonely place. However he knew that was impossible, his grandmother kept him company, or at least that was what Haruka insisted. And obviously, it didn't matter how much Haru’s grandmother had cared and loved him, the mere thought of that old lady spirit looming scared the life out of him.

"So.. you never told me..." tried Makoto again too scared with the path his thoughts were taking.

"What?"

"You were going to tell me which University you've chosen. I mean, it must be really hard with so many to choose from. At least I rejected the few that the scouts had approached me and then Ama-chan-sensei suggested two Universities in Tokyo that were good according to her and I had enough qualifications to try to get in. My parents were so cool with the choices although I expected them to be a little disappointed since both my parents studied at Kyoto U and both are so smart. But they were ok and happy that I had finally decided what I wanted to study. I was so glad." He stopped to breath in and looked at Haru who had gotten himself busy with a pen and a paper, he was making a cute picture of the koala and dolphin toys.

"You are so good at everything" Makoto gasped.

Haru’s chuckle reverberated inside of him and he thought he was floating.

Lately it had been like this with Haruka around. His friend was provoking things inside of him that he could not explain. Or maybe he knew the reason but was too afraid of the meaning. And what scared him the most was the idea that soon he was moving away to Tokyo and he was going to be away from Haru. However he was aware that at this time in his life, they needed to follow their own dreams and see where they could go from there.

"Stop overrating everything, it’s not a big deal. It’s only a doodle." Haruka commented bringing back Makoto to reality.

"I love all of Haru’s doodles"

"You can have this one"

"Thank you, Haru-chan." He could not think of anything else that could make him happier.

"Are you staying for dinner?"

"No," replied Makoto a little bit sad but suddenly changing his attitude at a different thought, "my mother’s making green curry tonight, would you like to come?"

"Ok"

With Haru-chan there were always reasons for him to smile.

And he needed to get as much of that now that they were together. Once he had to go to Tokyo… Well, he had chosen already to go to Tokyo to chase his newfound dream. And Haru was always going to be Haru-chan it didn't matter where he wanted to go.

"What?" Haruka asked. "Are you sure I can go?"

"Yes, let me call my mother to tell her"

"I can stay."

Makoto took his phone and called his mother without a second thought.

"It’s just that you looked sad somehow." He insisted when he got off the phone.

"Oh" Makoto blushed and looked away. "I’m not sad." Makoto stood up and took his backpack. "Let’s go." He said reaching for him with his hand so he could help him stand up. The palm of his hand tickled in a comforting way and it seemed to him that Haru had held it a little longer that he usually did.  

As soon as they got to his home, Ren and Ran tackled Haruka and demanded his total attention. However Makoto’s mother had other things in mind. As calm as Makoto, she send them to tidy up their room and to take a bath immediately afterwards.

"Dear, I need to talk to you". She said looking expectantly at Makoto.

"I’ll go then" responded Haruka turning around.

"No, Haruka-san. I’d like you to stay as well, if that’s ok with you."

Makoto was looking at both of them. Haruka sat down on his bed frowning and his mother was holding the tea towel a little too strongly like she had the habit of doing when she had to talk to him about something she was not comfortable doing so. She also carried a small book under her armpit but tried as he might he could not read the title nor when she sat and placed it over her lap and under the tea-towel.

He took the seat in front of his desk and tried his best but could not come up with anything that she needed to talk to him, less to Haru and himself together.

"OK, so, your father and I are very worried about something" She said looking at Makoto and was as blushed as she could get. "I know that you had this talk at school and we also talked to you when you were 12, however we never talked to you about… "at that point the redness in her cheeks didn't look healthy, she coughed to clear her throat. "about boy love".

Makoto felt himself burn in the spot. He wanted to be swallowed by the earth and disappear.

"Muuummm..."

"I know Makoto, it’s also a bit uncomfortable for me to be talking to you boys about this as well as I am definitely a girl. But your father insisted I could do a better job, so please bear with me.

Makoto was looking at Haruka out of the corner of his eyes and he was staring at his shoes clearly avoiding his mother as well. This was so embarrassing. This was never the way he wanted Haruka to find out. He just couldn't understand why his mother had to bring something so delicate to both of them at the same time.

"For a long time, your father and I have known that you care a lot for each other. Right?"

"Of course, I care for Haru" Why was his voice so high?

"What about you, Haruka-san? You care a lot for Makoto as well, am I wrong?"

"I do" was his replied and the three of them were beyond blushed.

"See, Makoto, this is necessary!"

"What is necessary, mum?" Makoto was bordering exasperation.

"You care for each other. But the thing is, you care more for each other than normal friends do. And you are grown boys about to go to University and be adults and I remember when you were only 5, Makoto, you've always been such a good boy. You still are, right, Haruka-san?"

"He is"

"So you might want to get to a new level with your friendship, start to be more physical and that’s ok. However don’t display your affection openly, and I know is hard at your age. Believe me, it’s hard! But Japan is not ready yet to receive so much affection in the open. Not from handsome boys like you are. It’s different in other countries such as Australia and Germany where they have parties, dress up with wonderful colours and go on parades. I’ve seen it and it’s too much for Japan."

Makoto was looking intensely at his mother and was trying to figure out what she meant with everything.

"I love you both a lot, so I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in my house, however your father has requested that from now on, Haruka-san, you will need to sleep in a different room from Makoto. This is unexpected since you have slept together since you were kids. And I don’t want you to feel that we love you less because of this. It’s just that… well… you know how the twins barge in without previous notice and it’d be weird to explain them now that they are both so young…and truth is, we would be acting just the same if you’d bring a girlfriend”

She looked at both of them expecting some sort of an answer that Makoto could not get. He looked at Haruka who was crimson, his eyes contrasting and barely smiling. Makoto surely was at a lost with his mother.

"So, now that we are on the same page I wanted to talk about sex."

"MUUUUMMMM"

Now Makoto was mortified.

"Yes, Makoto, sex."

"But we’ve already talked about this and I had the talk at school as well."

"Homosexual sex"

"What?!"

His mother rubbed her eyes and looked at Makoto as if she was exasperated as well.

"I don’t want to have this talk" He crossed his arms and looked at her straight in the eye.

"You will have this talk whether you like it or not. I love you and I want you to be ready. And for the love of kami-sama I hope it’s not too late."

Now Makoto could and would not dare look in Haru’s direction. This was too much.

"It’s not" He mumbled.

"I’m glad. Then… how do I explain this?"

"It’s the same as with girls only that instead of having a vagina the boys place the penis in the anus." Explained Haru bluntly.

Makoto thought he was going to faint, he looked at Haru with eyes as opened as he could master.

His mother coughed again probably surprised at Haru"s explanation.

"I see… Haruka-san, you are well informed. Have you had this chat with your parents, then?"

"Yes, madam."

"I’m glad." she sighed and looked actually relieved. "So you know how to protect yourself."

Haru nodded.

"Do you know how to protect yourself, Makoto?"

"I’m not going to get pregnant and since you firmly believe I love boys," he eluded Haru’s steady gaze and fixed his eyes in his inquisitive and now extremely annoying mother.

"Of course you will not get a boy pregnant, neither will you give me any grandchildren but that’s not the point. You need to be protected of sexually transmitted diseases, Makoto. I can’t believe I need to explain these things"

"I know how to use a condom" He mumbled frustrated.

"Good. Do you have any questions then? You too Haruka-san… If you have any questions you can come to me. Anything"

"No, mum, no questions". He mumbled again.

"I’m glad. I got a book from the library store for you. There’s a lot of information and pictures of the male anatomy and how to use everything and some tips regarding sex that you might find useful. I read it already and I thought it was very enlightening and insightful."

"Thank you." He said without looking at her and holding the book carefully.

"So, Haruka-san. I heard that you’ve found a dream for yourself."

"Yes. I want to swim"

"You’ll be wonderful. Where are you going to be studying then?

"Tokyo"

"Will you be staying with your aunt?"

"No, my dad has a small apartment and I’ll be staying there. It’s close to my college and the swimming center."

"Are your parents going to be selling the house?"

"I’m not sure. My dad always said that he wants to live here once he’s retired. My mother's coming tomorrow, I’ll ask her."

"That’s nice to hear! That she’ll be coming. I’ll call her tomorrow. Well, then, I need to finish dinner. I’ll call you in a few minutes to set the table, Makoto." She stopped to look at his son and tears were showing in the rim of her eyes. "You’ve grown so fast! It’s not fair!" She threw herself over him, her arms tried to wrap Makoto but he had gotten so big.

"I’m so sorry about all that, Haru-chan" He said once his mother had being gone for a while and silence had settled and seemed that neither of them could shake it off. He knew he was avoiding Haru’s serene gaze, although he was now soaring with happiness after his mother finally got the answer he was dreading to hear out from Haruka.

"How come your parents had talked to you about… .about… you know!" He could not dare say it.

Haruka laughed silently like he usually did when Makoto found something uncomfortable.

"Well… my mother’s been very opened since the beginning and she explained everything when I was around 5 and I claimed I wanted to kiss you like she kissed my dad."

Makoto gasped and finally stared back at Haruka who was still looking at his shoes. His body tingled and he tried to grab his own chest with one hand.

He wasn't sure what to say, he was afraid Haruka would stand up and run away as he usually did every time they needed to talk about their feelings. He didn't want to hold him by force like he had to do that awful day they argued over their futures.

"She even gave me lubricant when I turned 13 and told me what it was for. I was mortified."

Makoto could not contain it anymore and started laughing very hard. Haruka had gotten his bluntness from his mother, so he could picture his mother being very explicit about Haru's sexual education.

"Then my dad gives me a box with flavoured condoms when I turned 15 and I started living alone," He smirked "You’d think that he was actually encouraging me."

Makoto was laughing so hard he was clutching at his stomach.

"I’ve never used them though..." He whispered and Makoto calmed down to look at him.

"They’ve probably expired."

"Mmm..." He returned his gaze to Makoto. He loved to get lost in those deep blue eyes so much, he just never did, always overwhelmed by the implications.

"You like boys" Haruka had startled him with that statement.

"I don’t know," he rubbed the back of his head. "I just happened to like one. Why do you have to be so blunt?" Makoto complained.

"I like you"

Makoto now could not avert his gaze anymore.

"Sorry?"

"I like you"

Mokoto chuckled and Haru looked away.

"Don’t make fun of me"

"I don’t"

"Don’t go liking any other boys, then"

"I meant I only like one boy… that’s you, Haru-chan"

Haru’s ear tips were red he knew theirs were surely also red.

"Don’t call me chan" He mumbled and Makoto laughed.

They gave in to silence.

Makoto wasn't sure what he was supposed to do next. But he just didn’t care. Haru was going to be with him in Tokyo and suddenly his future didn’t look as scary as before. He looked up and Haru was smiling back at him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first Free! fanfic AND my first one in English. I hope it doesn't have many mistakes, but if you find any, please tell (I'm learning!!).  
> To celebrate I'll have mackerel pie (for real)  
> HOPE YOU LIKED ALL THIS NONSENSE!!  
> Bye <3


End file.
